Arapaima Pond Build
- Thread starter Luc70
- Start date
Well, not too bad, some time ago I posted, but we managed to do all the dirty rough work.
Pictures attached show what has been done.
1. Sun-Shade is up, not the prettiest sight yet, but still some work to do on that. Keeps a ton of heat out, that's for sure.
2. Second bottom-drain has been done. Waiting for it to dry and then pull the liner over to fix it.
3. Connections to the 2nd Settling chamber all done, including the tank itself, all the pipe-fittings except connection for the skimmer.
4. Skimmer is in, need to fix it with plugs and screws, then ready for the liner-cut.
5. Walls are all up except the second bog-area wall, that's going to be the last one to do.
6. The 2nd bottom-drain dome is done. Massive, heavy and sure good to protect the liner connection.
7. Airline is in as well, so can connect it to a pump and have an air-diffuser on top of the dome.
What still needs to be done:
1. Roll out the liner
2. Cut and connect the bottom-drain
3. Fill and straighten out the liner
4. Bring up the walls back and sides so water will be level with top of the front wall.
(this can be done once the water level is like 60-70%, will drain quite some water at that point on the sand wall in the back to make it does not shift anymore.)
5. Once water is at 100% and ok, then we will start pumps and see how the settling-tanks do.
6. Get Metal-fences around the pond to keep Mr. T. in and birds out.
7. After a couple of days testing, move Mr. T.
8. Once Mr. T. has moved, we will start with the bog-areas, because we need his old pond-liner for those.
Pictures in the next post....
Pictures attached show what has been done.
1. Sun-Shade is up, not the prettiest sight yet, but still some work to do on that. Keeps a ton of heat out, that's for sure.
2. Second bottom-drain has been done. Waiting for it to dry and then pull the liner over to fix it.
3. Connections to the 2nd Settling chamber all done, including the tank itself, all the pipe-fittings except connection for the skimmer.
4. Skimmer is in, need to fix it with plugs and screws, then ready for the liner-cut.
5. Walls are all up except the second bog-area wall, that's going to be the last one to do.
6. The 2nd bottom-drain dome is done. Massive, heavy and sure good to protect the liner connection.
7. Airline is in as well, so can connect it to a pump and have an air-diffuser on top of the dome.
What still needs to be done:
1. Roll out the liner
2. Cut and connect the bottom-drain
3. Fill and straighten out the liner
4. Bring up the walls back and sides so water will be level with top of the front wall.
(this can be done once the water level is like 60-70%, will drain quite some water at that point on the sand wall in the back to make it does not shift anymore.)
5. Once water is at 100% and ok, then we will start pumps and see how the settling-tanks do.
6. Get Metal-fences around the pond to keep Mr. T. in and birds out.
7. After a couple of days testing, move Mr. T.
8. Once Mr. T. has moved, we will start with the bog-areas, because we need his old pond-liner for those.
Pictures in the next post....
Must say that we learned from the first settling tank.
The second one went in at warp-speed...lol.
Can't wait for next week. Put in the old liner, then the white new liner and get the bottom drain finished.
That's where filling can start....at last...
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
The second one went in at warp-speed...lol.
Can't wait for next week. Put in the old liner, then the white new liner and get the bottom drain finished.
That's where filling can start....at last...
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
I forgot some things that need to be done.
- dome for settling tank needs to be cut and hinged.
- water tap needs to be moved.
Hope to start clearing the bottom on Tuesday, and hopefully silicone the liner and screw the rim on the drain.
From there, wait for the silicone to dry, paint the dome and fix the diffuser connection.
Test fill to check the drain on Thursday.
Wait till Friday and start filling and straightening out the liner for two days if all is ok.
Cheers,
Luc
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
- dome for settling tank needs to be cut and hinged.
- water tap needs to be moved.
Hope to start clearing the bottom on Tuesday, and hopefully silicone the liner and screw the rim on the drain.
From there, wait for the silicone to dry, paint the dome and fix the diffuser connection.
Test fill to check the drain on Thursday.
Wait till Friday and start filling and straightening out the liner for two days if all is ok.
Cheers,
Luc
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Thanks for your comment, I guess it will end up somewhere 8000 to 10000 gallon.
The dimensions at surface are about 10 x 5 meters, with average dept of 1 meter but sloping 45' at the left, right and backside.
Front is straight up and deepest.
So taking a very conservative figure, I'd have about 36 Cubic Meters of water, but taking it very generous and including 2 settling tanks of about 1.5CBM and 2 bog-area's, then I might hit 45 to 50 CBM. 11 to 13k US Gallons.
For sure enough for Mr. T. to get some space chasing after fish.
Did some work today...dome painting halfway through.
The second bottom-drain is fixed.
Liner straightened quit a lot. Should not be too much work for filling and testing.
Hope tomorrow to put at least 10cm of water on top of the second drain for leak-testing.
Then Friday and Saturday further filling and then testing with pump and 1 settling-tank.
Some pictures in the next post.
Tomorrow will be nice to fill the first part and test the 2nd drain.
Will start with watering the backside wall, compacting it as much as possible.
Hope to get it to a shape where the top is about 30-40cm wide and slightly sloping up from the back wall to where the water starts.
Once the liner is folded on top, I plan cut open big bags spread on top.
Then lay metal racks over it that provide a grip for potted plants along the back wall.
The weight of those pots and the racks tipping over a bit backwards will prevent it from falling in the pond.
As always, many words to describe something simple..hehee
Will make pictures when we get there...
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Will start with watering the backside wall, compacting it as much as possible.
Hope to get it to a shape where the top is about 30-40cm wide and slightly sloping up from the back wall to where the water starts.
Once the liner is folded on top, I plan cut open big bags spread on top.
Then lay metal racks over it that provide a grip for potted plants along the back wall.
The weight of those pots and the racks tipping over a bit backwards will prevent it from falling in the pond.
As always, many words to describe something simple..hehee
Will make pictures when we get there...
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
You will notice that the second drain is not level with the first on.
Did not dare changing it again as working in the pond area is close to torture with the heat currently.
Don't see much trouble with it anyway since water comes from both backside corner bogs towards the front with the drains.
So should be nice flow going through.
Still need to cut one more hole in the 2nd settling tank to connect the skimmer.
Maybe Saturday to fix all that.
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Did not dare changing it again as working in the pond area is close to torture with the heat currently.
Don't see much trouble with it anyway since water comes from both backside corner bogs towards the front with the drains.
So should be nice flow going through.
Still need to cut one more hole in the 2nd settling tank to connect the skimmer.
Maybe Saturday to fix all that.
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
